Flora & Fauna

Cheasty Greenspace is a forest of about 50 acres in urban South Seattle. Although many parts of this forest are covered in invasive species (and these sections need urgent restoration work to be done – see below!), there are thriving sections with substantial native understory and native deciduous canopy as well.

When you go, you will see different kinds of plants and animals. The following is a list of some of the plants and animals you might see while exploring Cheasty Greenspace. There are probably more. Contribute to this ongoing study by sending us your observations of plant and animal life from this forest. Provide as much detail as you can to Forest@Cheasty.org.

Unfortunately, many parts of the forest are currently infested with invasive species of plants that effectively out-compete and inhibit the growth of our native plants. These invasive plants arrived in our forests through various routes, difficult to trace now. Many were deliberately planted in gardens throughout the region because of their ability to grow well under our local conditions. Unfortunately, many have grown too well, have escaped their original garden confines, and now infest our local forests, inhibiting the growth of our native plants. Other invasive plants arrived surreptitiously, as seeds hidden in the soil of nursery plants or stuck in the treads of our shoes when we travel across ecosystems. A significant part of our restoration work is pulling out these invasive bullies so that our native treasures can flourish.

* While almost all photographs at Cheasty.org are taken by volunteers in Cheasty Greenspace, most close-ups on this page were borrowed from sources in the public domain. Please help us build an all-Cheasty resource, by sending your photos of flora and fauna at Cheasty to forest@cheasty.org.